MUMBAI, INDIA, August 20, 2001: For safety reasons, Ganesha Visarjana devotees have been asked by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to move their celebrations from Dadar Chowpatty beach to nearby Mahim Chowpatty instead. An unusually high tide level and crowd management due to the beach’s small size are contributing factors for the request. The BMC has also encouraged icon makers to stop using plaster of paris and toxic paints in their creations. According to the article, traditionally, the murthis were made from clay taken from a snake hill, the earth around the banyan tree, from the river bank/pond, the earth surrounding a well or the cowshed. However, BMC’s guidelines are often ignored and insoluble plaster of paris, along with toxic paint, enter the bodies of water during the ceremonies resulting in more pollution.
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